New user - capability query

S

SuilAduaidh

New Member
I am a scientist and my team are struggling with experiments while working in isolation due to Covid. I want to set up a system with say 4 logitech HD webcams (or similar) + 1 audio connected to laptop. Mostly we would want to see all camera feeds at once - these would be pointing at different parts of the experiment or the different instrument screens. I was looking at OBS multiview for that. If we can stream that multiview, that would be great but if not, we can share the laptop screen on Zoom or similar. It would be useful if the multiview session could be recorded and saved locally but if not possible, we can do that through Zoom, I suppose.
We dont really need high resolution - just something reasonably simple that works - or if I need to do something complicated first, thats OK.

So am I in the right place with OBS?
 
OBS is mainly an interactive tool, designed for someone sit in front of it and composite/change the scenes like a director.

Usually, you design multiple scenes with different content, and while you stream you switch between scenes.

The multiview is an overview of all available scenes, so you can simply click that one scene you want to show now and the output switches.
The multiview is only a tool for streaming/recording, not meant to be streamed itself. But you can create a scene that looks like the multiview. There is a "Scene" source type, so if you use this, you import the content of a whole existing scene into an additional scene. Make the source smaller so there is space for more and add more scenes.
However, if you want to switch between this multi-scene and a single camera scene, you need to sit in front of OBS and do the switch.
If it comes to recording, it's the same as with streaming: you record one single thing, the output. It's what you see in the preview of OBS. You cannot have one scene in the preview and record a different scene. If you switch to a different scene, this new scene is what is now being recorded.
 
In short - OBS Studio records/streams what you see in the Preview(Program) of the application.
4 cameras is possible in one scene, but configure their resolutions wisely (USB and PC has its limits).
 
koala said:
OBS is mainly an interactive tool, designed for someone sit in front of it and composite/change the scenes like a director.

Usually, you design multiple scenes with different content, and while you stream you switch between scenes.

The multiview is an overview of all available scenes, so you can simply click that one scene you want to show now and the output switches.
The multiview is only a tool for streaming/recording, not meant to be streamed itself. But you can create a scene that looks like the multiview. There is a "Scene" source type, so if you use this, you import the content of a whole existing scene into an additional scene. Make the source smaller so there is space for more and add more scenes.
However, if you want to switch between this multi-scene and a single camera scene, you need to sit in front of OBS and do the switch.
If it comes to recording, it's the same as with streaming: you record one single thing, the output. It's what you see in the preview of OBS. You cannot have one scene in the preview and record a different scene. If you switch to a different scene, this new scene is what is now being recorded.
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks for the quick reply. So I could use multiview, if I didnt want to stream all 4 windows or change the primary focus, just view what was on the 4 cameras on my desktop (and then use Zoom to share my desktop online with others - it can also record). I cant easily find any other solution - any mention of multiple cameras brings up OBS

It looks like its worth trying - maybe later we can be more adventurous. At the minute we use a phone and the experimenter shifts from instrument to instrument, provides a commentary and twiddles all the instrument knobs at the same time!
 
Suslik V said:
In short - OBS Studio records/streams what you see in the Preview(Program) of the application.
4 cameras is possible in one scene, but configure their resolutions wisely (USB and PC has its limits).
Click to expand...
OK, thanks. We can try it and see, I cant find any other option mentioned for multiple cameras other than OBS - but we dont need resolution or high frame rates.
 
@koala just said that "multiview" in OBS is only control panel of the OBS (for switching Scenes fast and easy). How the current scene looks is only depends on your imagination.
 
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